The Sioux City Journal reports that a proposal headed for a City Council vote Monday would bill the company that causes the break $2,000 for the first hour of response and $250 for each additional 15 minutes. There would be more charges for additional personnel, vehicles, ambulance service or supplies.

The fees would not apply to small leaks that do not require a full response, incidents lasting under 30 minutes or leaks occurring to above-ground piping inside buildings.

Sioux City Fire Rescue estimates it would have received more than $640,000 for its responses to gas line breaks since 2001 if the fee structure were in place.